A shocking video shared on social media shows that Russian soldiers are still being treated badly in the war in Ukraine. In the video, a captured Russian soldier says he saw “hundreds of dead bodies everywhere.” This shows that many Russian soldiers are being used as if their lives don’t matter.
The video, posted by WarTranslated, a blogger from Estonia, appears to show a group of Russian soldiers giving up and surrendering in the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, Ukraine. A voice in the video says that Russian commanders are sending their soldiers into battle without giving them proper tools, weapons, or even food. Some soldiers are forced to hide in basements with no water or supplies, waiting either to die or be captured. The stories from these captured soldiers reveal the real damage happening in that area of the war.
The video then shows a man in a military uniform who introduces himself as “Koryagin Artem, from the Republic of Moldova, the City of Saransk.” He explains that he had legal problems, and instead of sending him to jail, the Russian authorities sent him back to fight in the war.
Artem says: “They sent us on a mission without telling us clearly what to do or where to go.” He and his group were given phones and maps and told to attack a few houses near a village called Shevchenko.
He continues: “Our commanders sent about 40 people to attack Shevchenko. We went in small groups of about five people.” He adds: “There were 25 of us walking through the forest in pairs, and we saw hundreds of dead Russian soldiers just lying around. It shocked me. You could see their bodies everywhere among the trees—you had to step over them.”
This kind of story is another example of how Russia is using what’s been called a “meatgrinder” strategy in Ukraine. This term means sending huge numbers of soldiers into dangerous battles, even if it means losing many of them. The goal is to wear down the Ukrainian army by overwhelming them with sheer numbers, even if it leads to a high number of Russian deaths.
These battles are usually very intense and happen at close range. Both sides lose many soldiers, but the Russian side often sends in troops who are not well trained or equipped. These soldiers are treated as if they are replaceable.
This brutal method is very different from more careful and strategic ways of fighting, where armies try to avoid heavy losses. Instead, Russia seems to be relying on sending wave after wave of troops to try to take control of key areas, such as Bakhmut, even if it costs many lives.
